Mona Charen, Michael Kelly, and others have written columns on how the American Liberal movement has been hijacked by the hard Left. Both writers note that the recent anti-war marches in Washington and San Francisco were chiefly sponsored by a group called International A.N.S.W.E.R. (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism)–a front group for the Stalinist Workers World Party (WWP).
The WWP spun off in 1956 from the Socialist Workers Party after the Soviet Union’s invasion of Hungary, an action which the WWP wholeheartedly supported. These days, the WWP
- Supports the North Korean dictatorship of Kim Jong Il
- Sides with Saddam Hussein
- Justifies and denies the Tienanmen Square massacre of 1989
Mainly, though, since there are few places where one can, in a practical sense, be a true Communist, they must thrive on being virulently anti-American. To be fair, some on the Left have been pointing out the involvement and pedigree of International A.N.S.W.E.R., but most of the protesters couldn’t care less.
Not that this phenomenon is anything new.
Anyone present during the massive protests of the Vietnam era would have eventually encountered a thoughtful demonstrator, who was deeply concerned about the no-win conduct of the war, the utter lack of resolve, and the total waste of American lives. But this same observer would have surely noted that such an individual was outnumbered a thousand to one by America-hating, Commie-loving radicals, whose only cause was the defeat of “Amerika.”
Moving back to the Korean “police action” of 1950-1953, the aggression of the North against the South was so flagrant, that there were few public demonstrations against US involvement. On the other hand, the damage was already done. Woodrow Wilson’s League of Nations, which failed to do the one thing for which it was created–preserving the World War I peace treaties–somehow morphed into the United Nations, beloved of the Left, and became chief proponent of this undeclared war that cost 37,000 American lives, not to mention millions of Koreans and Chinese.
The American radical Left had little to protest, since Truman’s conduct of the war was going nowhere fast, and we were losing. By early 1951, General Douglas MacArthur demanded the authority to blockade China’s coastline and bomb its Manchurian bases, taking his case directly to the American people. For this, Truman fired him, fearing a widening of the conflict, but not having a clue as to how to end the hostilities. That was to take a new president.
An armistice was finally signed on July 27, 1953. It was later revealed that President Eisenhower secretly informed the North Koreans and Chinese that he was prepared to use nuclear weapons, and would also carry the war to China if a peace agreement was not reached.
Of course, another reason why the Korean conflict garnered little protest from the Left was that another matter, occurring at the same time, captured much of their attention–the trial and eventual execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. That these Communist atomic spies were 100% guilty was never in doubt. As in the “anti-war” demonstrations, the worldwide protests on behalf of the Rosenbergs had nothing to do with their supposed innocence, and everything to do with simple hatred of America and love of Communism–expressed by people who had absolutely no intention of living under that system of government. Indeed, The Book of Daniel, published in 1971, presenting a sympathetic portrayal of the Rosenbergs, established E.L. Doctorow as a major American writer, and set him up in a distinctly non-proletarian lifestyle.
If we move still further back to World War II, the Left was fully gratified, as Stalin was our great ally. He would be strengthened and the Cause would triumph everywhere! However, a scant 50 years after we entered WWII, worldwide Communism was devastated, despite the universally softball coverage it has always been given by the Information Mandarin Class. All that remains of the “movement” now is the anti-Americanism.
Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.